Learning Spanish is hard without speaking daily.
Learning Spanish is hard, when not being able to speak Spanish daily with someone. Any suggestions.
Aprender espaol es difcil, cuando no poder hablar con alguien en Espaol diariamente. Cualquier sugerencia.
8 Answers
I agree with both of the somewhat opposing views preceding.
Without actual speaking it´s all but impossible to learn to speak. At the end of my 3rd semester, even most of the very good students, couldn´t speak to any appreciable degree, if at all (the exceptions being the one or two who had done a youth summer exchange program) I could speak quite a bit (even though obviously with plenty mistakes) because I´ve been attending local practice groups for over year now. Not skill or intellect or anything of the sort. Just lucky to have good practice available where I live. There´s no substitute for speaking, when it comes to speaking.
But Chileno´s point about modern media is on point too. Sites like this have great resources, and computers allow chats. I´d strongly recommend taking Chileno up on his offer of Skype. There are also sites live conversationexchange.com and similar to facilitate a lot of such interaction. I know a few people who use them regularly and seem very satisfied.
Buena suerte
I would go further and say it is impossible. Yes, can learn to read and write but that is a small percentage of the language. You can read and write very well and be completely unable to hold a conversation.
Rodneyp posted an excellent thread today with a link to his blog on this very topic. You, and everyone else, should read it.
Not really. It isn't that hard. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but with today's facilities it is more than possible.
I can explain this over a Skype chat. (chileno74) just add me and tell me where you are and your time availability.
You need to speak as much as you can, with everyday being ideal. However, it isn't necessary to speak everyday, but you need to be speaking to someone at least once a week.
Read this blog post to get some good ideas on how you can find someone to talk to:
Improve Your Conversational Spanish
Also make sure you have a "listen and repeat" audio course as a part of your study materials. It's not the same as real conversation, but at least you'll be speaking.
You can get some suggestions for some really good audio courses here:
I want to learn Spanish, now what?
Even if you don't have a true "listen and repeat" style course, you can still "listen and repeat" with a podcast or other audio lesson.
And if all else fails, talk to yourself.
I also suggest that you compensate that lack of speaking by listening to as much Spanish as possible, you'll be able to absorb how Spanish speakers speak and when the time comes you'll be amazed at how much you've learned through osmosis.
You need to be doing something in Spanish everyday, it's so important.
After learning for first six lessons, I agree. Having a very hard time talking to myself in Spanish.
Espués de enterarse por primera vez seis lecciones, estoy de acuerdo. Tener un tiempo muy difícil hablar solo en Español.
I agree. It's really hard to learn a language if you don't practice speaking with someone else. You should try finding someone who can speak Spanish and practice with them. It may be challenging at first if the person is talking really fast but once you learn Spanish more, it will become easier.
The key is to keep trying and when you can read, listen, and speak in Spanish. Do not get discourage and don't give up!!
You could try singing along out loud with your favorite Spanish music, as long as you make sure you understand what it is you are saying.
